McConnell Makes Senate Return, Hayden Panettiere Death Probe, China's AI Response: AM Update 9/15

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0:43A possible fentanyl-laced pill, the suspected cause of actress Hayden Penetier's death. We have to do it prudently, but that doesn't mean we're going to stop an industry. The great AI debate going global. China pushing back against calls to slow development as President Trump warns America cannot afford to fall behind. There's like a sense that sort of like woke one was over, but that's just not true. And I do think that we continue to expand the number of things that people can't talk about. And a failing grade for free speech on America's college campuses as nearly half the schools in a new nationwide ranking earn an F.

1:22All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM update.

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2:31After more than three months away from Washington, Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican from Kentucky, returning to the Capitol yesterday, putting an end to weeks of questions about whether he would come back at all. The 84-year-old former Senate leader seen leaving his Washington home in a wheelchair, flashing a thumbs up before being quickly helped into an SUV and driven to the Senate. Ahead of the vote, Senator McConnell telling reporters it was, quote, time to get back to work and to, quote, finish the job for this Congress, identifying the farm bill and continued support for NATO allies fighting Russia among his priorities.

3:07The senator arriving on the Senate floor just minutes before the Monday vote, casting the deciding yes vote to advance the nomination of President Trump's pick Matthew Byrne to serve as a federal judge in Southern Ohio. The 47-46 vote in favor of cloture or allowing a substantive vote on the nominee, clearing the way for a separate confirmation vote in the coming days. Senator McConnell's return coming after he acknowledged in a statement that he is still not fully recovered, describing the past three months as a, quote, long and often frustrating process. Mr. McConnell adding that he will continue physical therapy while promising Majority Leader Thune that he will do his best to return for close votes whenever Republicans need him.

3:51Senator McConnell hospitalized June 14th after his team says he fell inside his Washington home and briefly lost consciousness, later revealing that doctors also treated him for a mild case of pneumonia. EMT dispatches from the scene reported a cardiac arrest and that CPR was administered, the senator later denying that he had a heart attack. Senator McConnell eventually transferred to a rehab facility, returning home in early August to continue his recovery. The lack of public information surrounding his condition fueling intense speculation during his absence, as Mr. McConnell gave no interviews and his office released only two photographs during his recovery.

4:33His return coming at a critical moment for Senate Republicans, ahead of a major vote today on cryptocurrency legislation. Senator McConnell's vote expected to prove essential Wednesday as well, when Republicans make another attempt to advance their stalled farm bill out of committee. The previous committee vote falling one vote short during McConnell's absence, forcing party leaders to postpone another attempt until his return. Senator McConnell now entering the final months of a Senate career spanning more than four decades. His term expires in January after a record 18 years leading Senate Republicans.

5:13New details emerging in the investigation into the death of actress Hayden Panettiere as authorities reportedly focus on a suspected fentanyl-laced pill and the dealer who may have supplied it. TMZ reporting multiple law enforcement sources believe Panettiere took an oxycodone pill containing fentanyl on the morning of her death. The outlet's sources saying the 36-year-old actress reportedly obtained oxycodone and other black market prescription drugs from a longtime dealer in L.A., taking several of those drugs while flying to South Carolina the previous day. However, this is reportedly only the working theory, not yet an official cause of death.

5:54The Greenville County Coroner's Office saying Penetier's cause and manner of death remain undetermined as investigators await the results of toxicology tests. TMZ's law enforcement sources similarly acknowledging those results will determine whether their theory is correct. DEA agents in LA and South Carolina reportedly working alongside local authorities to trace the suspected pill, including examining Panettiere's alleged relationship with the dealer. Her boyfriend, Brian Hickerson, reportedly speaking with the DEA as part of that investigation. Hickerson giving first responders a bag containing Panettiere's medications after she was found unresponsive inside their South Carolina rental.

6:39He reportedly administered Narcan before paramedics arrived. The case drawing comparisons to the death of rapper Mac Miller in 2018 at the age of 26. Multiple individuals convicted of supplying him with counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl. A representative for Panettiere telling Page Six the investigation remains ongoing and describing the case as complex, adding that they hope to have more answers soon. Coming up, China rejecting calls to slow the pace of artificial intelligence advancement as President Trump dismisses fears of a technological takeover and vows the U.S. will remain in the lead.

7:20And a new poll reveals nearly one in three college students still says violence can be an acceptable response to speech.

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8:14Text the letters MK to the number 989898 and get a free info kit and some solid information. The midterms will be here before you know it. Text MK to 989898 now. China now weighing in on the great AI debate, rejecting calls from American tech leaders to slow development and accusing them of using safety concerns to undermine Beijing's growing AI industry. The dispute erupting after Anthropic CEO Dario Amadei proposed new government oversight and greater coordination among leading AI companies to prevent the technology from advancing faster than researchers can safely control it. Amadei also calling for tighter restrictions on advanced AI chips reaching China, arguing the U.S.

9:01must preserve its technological advantage while pursuing broader international safety agreements. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and ex-AI founder Elon Musk broadly agreeing that the industry needs to move more slowly and cautiously, while critics argue the largest companies could use new regulations to box out smaller competitors. A Chinese foreign ministry spokesman responding yesterday by accusing American AI companies of spreading what he called quote, threat narratives and engaging in confrontation and malicious competition. The spokesman telling reporters China favors open and inclusive AI development, warning that a slowdown would disrupt international cooperation and benefit no one, according to the Chinese state-run China Daily.

9:46The Communist Party aligned Global Times going further, portraying Amadei's proposal as part of a, quote, Cold War playbook intended to preserve American technological dominance and to hold back Chinese competitors. Beijing nonetheless acknowledging serious risks from the tech itself. The Financial Times reporting China's Ministry of State Security on Sunday, issuing its first public statement focused on AI, warning that foreign adversaries could use deepfakes, fabricated content, and automated troll networks to spread political rumors and inflame divisions inside China. State Security Minister Chen Yixin also reportedly raising concerns about AI-powered cyberattacks, military vulnerabilities, and Chinese companies exposing sensitive information by using foreign AI tools.

10:37The Chinese warnings focus on specific national security threats rather than the possibility of AI, you know, wiping out humanity, offering no support for slowing the country's own development of the technology. Here at home, Vice President J.D. Vance yesterday expressing similar skepticism toward the American executives asking Washington to intervene. You know, it's something that we're concerned by, but we want to make sure that we actually regulate smartly and we're thoughtful about the risk here. So there are obviously risks to AI. There are some benefits to AI. I have to say just personally, I feel a little bit weird about the fact that you have so many frontier AI tech companies kind of coming to the government and begging the government to regulate them.

11:23It feels a little bit to me like a bit of a Trojan horse. So I think we just have to be careful about this. Throughout the day, President Trump also firing off a series of truth social posts, arguing the government already has sufficient authority to punish AI companies that cross the line. The president accusing critics of trying to cripple a transformative American industry and hand China an advantage, while dismissing the most catastrophic predictions and insisting the U.S. must remain in the lead. Mr. Trump also calling into the All In podcast summit yesterday as NVIDIA founder and CEO Jensen Huang appeared on stage.

12:01Well, I know about AI. I also have common sense about AI. The robots will not be taken over. The AI will not be taken over the rest of the world. The whole thing is a hoax. Now, with that, we have to be a little bit careful. We have to do things and we have to do them prudently. But that doesn't mean we're going to stop an industry because as we work on the next 10 years about how to destroy it. So I'm with you all the way. I didn't even know how you felt about it. I assumed you felt the same way as me. Yes, sir. And we're going to lead. And I have an expression. It's whoever wins, AI wins. That's how big it is.

12:38It's bigger than the internet. And whoever wins, AI wins. President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping scheduled to meet at the White House September 24th. AI safety expected to be among the issues on the agenda. Sounds like it could be a short discussion. Nearly half of the college is included in a new nationwide survey receiving a failing grade for their campus speech climate. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, or FIRE, finding 121 of the 261 schools in its annual college free speech rankings, earn an F, while 30 % of students say violence can be acceptable, at least in rare circumstances, to stop someone from speaking on campus, a four-point decline from last year.

13:25The report arriving one year after Charlie Kirk was assassinated at Utah Valley University while engaging students in political debate. UVU falling from 71st place last year to 210th this year as students there report growing self-censorship and declining comfort expressing controversial views. That'll happen when someone's killed for speaking on your campus. At Utah Valley, Charlie Kirk now ranking as the single most difficult subject for students to discuss, while nationwide he ranks third behind the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and President Trump. We spoke with FIRE President and CEO Greg Lukianoff, asking how Charlie Kirk's assassination continues to shape campus speech one year later.

14:10I visited Utah Valley about a month after Charlie was murdered, and it was clear that both students had come together trying to recover from witnessing something so terrible. But it was also clear that students were still afraid to talk about it. And we've seen this trend nationally, is that students all over the country are afraid to even discuss the murder of Charlie Kirk. It's been added to the list of radioactive topics on campus. Researchers examining not only which subjects students avoid, but how often they censor themselves, whether they tolerate controversial speakers, and whether they trust administrators to defend free expression when controversy erupts.

14:55The findings complicate a growing perception that campus culture wars of the past decade had begun to fade. I think there's like a sense that sort of like woke one was over, but that's just not true. And I do think that we continue to expand the number of things that people can't talk about. Meanwhile, you know, it's turning off a lot of people from higher ed, particularly young men. So I think it's going to higher ed, which could potentially decrease our polarization, is turning it up to 11. Some universities showing how dramatically a campus can improve, while most of the others continue losing the trust of their own students.

15:35Lukianoff, pointing to the factor he believes most clearly separates the two. Overwhelmingly, what distinguishes a good school from a bad school is leadership. that's been made very clear by schools like Dartmouth and Vanderbilt that are both in the top 10 now. They weren't always great on free speech. They got excellent leadership and they rocketed up the charts and they really mean it. Chicago has a combination of great leadership, but also a reputation for being a place where people can actually talk and more serious minded students tend to go. So it's hard to beat a place that has that long-standing reputation where they get the kind of students already mature enough to talk across lines of difference.

16:20NYU, though, I mean, you know, a lot of the schools in New York, also Columbia, I mean, they just don't seem to know what they're doing at all, and their students appropriately don't trust them. The University of Chicago taking the top spot for the third time in seven years, while New York University finishes is dead last. The overall picture remaining bleak, though FIRE says this year's findings provide some reasons for very cautious optimism. The number of schools receiving failing grades falling from 166 last year to 121 this year, though just 24 schools receive a C or better, the average campus score reaching its highest level since the rankings began seven years ago, though that average corresponds to a D - on the report's grading scale.

17:09We asked Lukianoff what the University of Chicago, the highest scoring school in the rankings, would need to do to earn an A. I think some of the easiest stuff that they could do is decrease the number of students who think violence is okay in response to free speech. They already have a relatively low number of those students, but I still think it covers around 20%, which is nuts. A lot of students are coming in believing that they have a right to decide for everyone else who they can hear. And that's something that schools should be actively screening against. Lukianoff arguing that the message should begin before students ever arrive on a college campus.

17:50If it came down from Yale and Harvard and all these schools to the big K-12 theater schools to say, listen, if it indicated to us that you're the kind of person who believes that they have a right not to hear things that offend them and nobody else may either, that we don't want you, that would change attitudes quick. And they could work it into the essays. They could talk about tolerance and curiosity. There's a million ways higher ed could fix this.

18:20And that'll do it for your AM update. I'm Megan Kelly. Join me back here for the MK Show, live on SiriusXM's The Megyn Kelly Channel, 111 at noon east, on youtube.com slash Megyn Kelly, and on all podcast platforms.

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